[600MRG] Ground Rods - Connection To -

[Brian, WA1ZMS]

FWIW.....I work in the commercial communications industry as a day job for a large vendor.  The only way we can obtain and maintain good ground connections is to use cad-welds at each joint. Even then, the installers must measure the ground system against a set of reference ground rods used only for testing. The test rods are then cut off and never used again and left to rot.  In other words....if you REALLY want a good ground system, you have to pay $ to play the game.

For ham use: You can silver solder wires to rods, use clamps then seal with Scotch 88T tape and Scotchkote then another layer of tape.  Tin-Lead solder for grounds has a very very short life time.  That's one reason why it's not allowed for AC or Utility grounds. Clamps or cad-weld only meets most Codes.

But to be realistic about it for 600m, the best one can do it what you have budget for. Unless you live in the middle of a farm field with 500ft clear in every direction for an AM broadcast type of ground system the best most of us can do is to sink as many rods as you can and tie them back to a common point of your feed system. Keep in mind the excellent info Rudy posted sometime back about the advantage of more shorter grounds than just a few LONG ground radials.  My ground system is made up of ten 8ft rods all tied back to a single rod and all within a radius of 30ft from the feed point.  A single #6 wire runs over to the base of the VHF tower and its lighting ground. I must have $500 in copper all burried outside and still only get get as low as say 12 or 15 ohms at 600m.   Nothing beats trying the best you can, then add a single test rod say 50ft away and measure with a Megger or an impedance bridge or other ground test system. Then add a few more rods and see how much you can improve it. But plan on a 5 year life span unless you cad-weld.

But....don't let a poor ground system keep you off the air! Get on and have fun!  A 35ohm ground connected to an active station is better than working on an ideal ground system while the rig stays off. :- )

-Brian, WA1ZMS & XSH/31 on 477.9 CW beacon in Va.
iPhone

> On Feb 1, 2015, at 1:54 PM, Frank Lotito <k3dz at live.com> wrote:
> 
> For the past few days we have seen recommendations to minimize the contact resistance between a ground rod and the earth.  Included were recommendations on minimizing the effects of corrosion.  Maybe I missed it, but I'd like to see recommendations and "how I did it hints" on making a long lasting - low resistance "electrical bond" between the ground rod and the stranded / solid copper wires or woven braid used to join the shack, and if used, the radial field to the ground rod(s).  Once the rod is pounded into the ground you need a little more than a "pencil iron" to join the copper wire / woven brain to the ground rod.  Simple mechanical clamps seem to be accompanied by a lot of wishful thinking when it comes to a long lasting low-resistance connection.
> Frank Lotito  K3DZ / WH2XHA                            
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